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A 19-year-old girl has been charged with perverting the course of justice after telling police she was drugged and raped by an Asian sex gang in Cumbria.
The teenager, from Barrow-in-Furness, is currently in custody awaiting a court hearing, having allegedly breached her bail conditions.
Last night Cumbria Police confirmed it was investigating an incident of physical and sexual abuse that was reported by a woman in her late teens on tuesday
The girl later alleged on social media that she had been beaten, burned, drugged and trafficked for sex throughout the north of England by Pakistani men.
Her post included pictures of bruises, scratches and burn marks, and sparked a social media storm.
Cumbria Police revealed on Wednesday that they had launched a 12 month investigation into claims of sexual and physical abuse by an organised gang who were said to have trafficked girls and young women across the north of England.
An independent review team was called in to assess their handling of the investigation and safeguarding surrounding it.
Today the force said the only charges to arise from the investigation was against a young woman. In a statement it said: 'Cumbria Constabulary can confirm that a 19-year-old woman, from Barrow-in-Furness, is subject of ongoing criminal proceedings.
'She was charged with seven counts of perverting the course of justice on 26th March 2020 and was released on bail.
'She has subsequently been arrested on 20th May for breach of her bail conditions and has been remanded in custody, court date to be notified. '
In the girl's shocking social media post, she'd claimed she was put into a car on Tuesday and taken to an address so that three Asian men could have sex with her.
'Afterwards I was beaten because I was in debt to these men for not attending "parties" for over seven weeks due to coronavirus,' she wrote.
One of the pictures posted online by the teenage girl, showing bruising from the alleged abuse. The allegations are now the subject of a thorough police investigation
'The organisers of the party decided to beat me to teach me a lesson. They decided that I don't learn from being battered as I've received beatings before'.
She claimed her alleged abusers began to hack off one of her fingers as a punishment for 'continuing to make the same mistakes'.
One of them 'waved a knife around' while he and others in the gang threatened to kill her.
The girl supported her claims with a series of photographs showing her with black eyes, bruising to both her face and body, and what appear to be cigarette burns.
Responding to the public's horror at the social media post today, Cumbria's Head of Crime and safeguarding, Det Chief Supt Dean Holden, reiterated that there had been a robust response to the allegation.
Det Chief Holden said: 'What I can say about this particular scenario is that Cumbria Constabulary have been undertaking an operational investigation for nearly 12 months now that has been looking at specific allegations of abuse.
'That investigation has involved a dedicated investigative team, a senior investigating officer and significant resources dedicated to it.
'As a result of that investigation I can say that an individual has been charged with some offences. I have to be very careful what I say about that because I do not want to undermine any judicial processes, but what I can say is that the investigation was subjected to an independent peer review in March this year.
The girl posted this picture of her thumb covered in blood
'That review was conducted by subject matter experts nationally, qualified and experienced in investigating sexual abuse and physical violence.
'Whilst that review did give us some minor recommendations the outcome was that the investigation was conducted with utmost integrity, transparency and professionalism.
'More importantly our safeguarding approach had been very robust and professional, which we had taken with partner agencies.
'So I want to reassure people this is not something we had ignored or otherwise dismissed, it is something we have taken extremely seriously and we have sought an independent review to ensure that our investigation is transparent and professional.
Girl charged with perverting course of justice after gang rape claim
WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: The teenager, from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, is currently in custody awaiting a court hearing, having allegedly breached her bail conditions.
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